F R O M T H E S T A C K S
The
Ceramic
Self
In th e A p r il/ M a y 1980 A m e r ic a n C r a ft , a rt c r itic M a t t h e w
K a n g a s p r o file d P a tti W a r a s h in a as a s c u lp to r w it h “ u n c o m -
p r o m is in g d e v o tio n to p e r s o n a l, id io s y n c r a t ic e x p r e s s io n ,”
n o tin g p a ra lle ls b e tw e e n th e e v o lu tio n o f h e r w o r k a n d m a n y
d e v e lo p m e n ts in A m e r ic a n s o c ia l h is to r y .
Recognized for her mastery of various ce-
ramic techniques, impeccable design sense
and often satirical take on the human figure,
the Seattle-based artist is a professor emerita
at the University of Washington, her alma
mater, where she taught for 25 years.
Warashina’s work, widely exhibited,
is featured in museum collections here and
abroad, including the Smithsonian’s Ren-
wick Gallery and the National Museum of
Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan.
Elected to the American Craft Council’s
College of Fellows in 1994, Warashina has
garnered numerous awards, including the
University of Washington Division of the
Arts Distinguished Alumna Award in 2003
and the 2001 Twining Humber Lifetime
Achievement/Woman of the Year Award
from Seattle’s Artist Trust. She was inter-
viewed in 2005 for Smithsonian’s Archives
of American Art.
In recent years, the versatile artist has
ventured into both bronze and printmaking.
As we go to press, her first large bronze,
City Reflections,
a public outdoor sculpture
commissioned for Tri-Met in Portland,
Oregon, is being cast and installed as part
of the Northwest Sculpture Collection.
Her explorations while working on this
sculpture led to a new series of ceramic
work—“Conversations”—on view, with oth-
er works by the artist and by potter Ron
Meyers, through November 8 in the North-
ern Clay Center’s “2009 Regis Master
Series Exhibition” in Minneapolis. She says
of her array of interests, “It seems that each
area asks more questions than time allows,
as life is fleeting, so it’s important to follow
your passions.” *
To view the entire American Craft article,
visit us at americancraftmag.org.
Tucked away on the
sixth floor of 72 Spring
Street in New Y ork
City is the American
Craft Council library,
one of the largest collec-
tions in this country
of craft, art and design
books documenting
the studio craft move-
ment from the 1940s to
the present. The over
14,000 volumes include
the Council’s 67-year
publishing history-all
past issues of
Craft
Horizons
and American
Craft. W e’d like to share
some o f this amazing
past with you each issue
as we dig though the
stacks. And if you hap-
pen to be in New York,
the library is open to the
public by appointment.
071 american craft oct/novo9
www.freedowns.net & www.journal-plaiza.net
